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Playboy: The Mansion Review
Derek dela Fuente
10/03/2005
Derek dons the smoking jacket and discovers what it's like to be Heff for a day...
There has been a very long, concerted and tasteful build up to the release of this game, which puts you in the comfy slippers and smoking jacket of Hugh Hefner. Itās hard to get your head around the concept of managing a magazine, mingling with a collection of beauty queens and merging gameplay ideas of management, simulation and tycoon all together but playing the game is the only way to get a real fix on things.
Many will feel this is a good vehicle for loads of innuendo and some smutty ideas and with a mansion load of girls this has mass appeal to the ladsā brigade! Fact is we have bucket loads of game that are management/sim with a boring theme and slant so here we have one with, dare with say it, a cool and titillating theme so in effect it could have mass appeal and did you know that nearly 20% of the Playboy readership is female?
Needless to say this is aimed at the 18+ group and the initial visual impression you get when the game loads in and from the zillions of screenshots that have come our way is it looks like a cross between Leisure Suit Larry meets the Sims, which canāt be bad.
There are two different paths to explore for the player. You can either go for Mission Play where you progress through a series of missions that follow the road Hef took to build the real Playboy Empire or you can progress along the route of Freeform Play which allows you to build the Playboy Mansion with no real holds barred. This is like the description says, there are no time restraints and you can reach your goals when you choose.
The first initial impression you get once playing is that Cyberlore, the developer, has gone for, not intentionally, a somewhat dated look for presentation which some might say mirrors the 60s, 70s and 80s which the game is set within but that would be too clever a mission statement because graphically the game is not of the highest standard that youād expect; that aside you are soon immersed into the swinging 60s and 70s as your first task begins.
Control of Hef is as simple as point and click; it all feels very adventure game oriented, which in a way it is ā“ one big adventure into the word of Hef! Your first task is to hire a photographer and journalist, which you do from a default list and the objective is to launch Playboy magazine. Getting some nice guests to a party is a good idea and if you are the lazy kind then you can leave it to your own personal PA to make up a party list with a number of dolly birds and celebrities.
Exploring the Mansion puts you in a kind of voyeuristic position and we are told the layout is pretty much based on fact!
Once the party is underway you can mingle with the guests, chat with them and introduce them to each other and bonus points are awarded for being the centre of attention and ensuring everyone has a nice time. The gameās interface is surprisingly intuitive, has some nice touches and there is an assortment of menus, help and data screens to ascertain how well you are doing and also assist in the process of empire building. Some gamers may feel slightly flustered at the start trying to understand
not only the sequence of gameplay but what you need to do and what is cosmetic and what is not, the focus being on advancing. Do you chat to everyone or do you merely try to see how far you can get by moving around and exploring? You can click on all number of boxes and sub menus and you are given information verbally of what they are, how to use them and all kinds of sub objectives you must undertake.
You certainly get a clue to the kind of activities Hef gets up to after only a short period of play and itās more than having a bevy of girls at his disposal and one wonders if all the tasks set were really activated and orchestrated by Hef. Getting your first front cover for the publication of Playboy sees Hef taking the shots ā“ although a cameraman is hired. The lush lady poses for you and via a set number keys presses you can change the angle, zoom in and take 24 shots ā“ all done in the best possible taste! With limited resources to start off with you have to be sparing with your dosh and decorating the Mansion isnāt really one task you should undertake early on but most definitely later in the game when you are hopefully starting to become loaded and can afford some really posh designer furniture that will impress the clientele you want to butter up!
It isnāt all about passive or boring interaction - no, Hef can snog some of the birds also and viewing the relationship menus is a fun aspect of the game. Schmoozing with guests and generally being āsuch a nice personā is the order of Hefās life but then again those around Hef have been picked to respond in an affirmative to any of his requests and possibly desires and are all sycophantic but have great bods ā“ the female cast that is!
Everything you see, speak to and interact with has no ulterior motive and are what you see. Playboy isnāt a subtle game nor is it as shallow as we thought it might be and keeping the monthly finances of Playboy in the black whilst building your contact base is but a part of the goals on hand. You could say Playboy offers two interrelated game sections ā“ Hefās business acumen and those of his personal standing and requests. Hey anyone with 3 girlfriends on the go must have more than his personal fortune as delectable bait or thinking about itā¦.. not!
As interaction is very much part of the game flow there is a lot of talking with the collection of interesting hangers on and business clients and although at first you read everything and take in every word with interest, looking for hidden meaning, after a while a lot of dialogue is repeated and you tend to focus more on bigger activities although ensuring you have a set number of detailed conversations will improve you business and romantic position. The conversation trees are cleverly designed where you click on icons for a number of differing aspects ā“ flirt, personal, casual, advice, with even a basic command where you can ask a guest to follow you as you walk to another part of the Mansion. All very clever and effective!
